The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (61 page)

August 18

Crabby? Give Thanks!

     
It is better to live alone in the desert

          
than with a [crabby], complaining wife.

Matthew Henry said, “It is better to have no company than bad company.”

Solomon often spoke about women who were hard to live with. He was a man who had a thousand wives; it’s hard to figure why he kept marrying. Maybe he kept hoping,
The next one will be different. The next one will be sweet. She’ll appreciate me. Maybe she’ll be thankful for how hard I work to give her a nice home.
Sadly, I think a lot of men think that today.
The next wife will be the good one.
That is sad for everyone.

Let’s look at the key factor here that makes a woman a misery. It’s complaining. This comes directly from unthankfulness. We can get so busy fixating on what we don’t have that we completely forget and completely miss out on the blessings that we do have.

A while ago a darling young woman came to me. She’s a single mom now living in one room with her kids in her parents’ home. She said, “I drove him to it. No matter how hard my husband worked or anything he gave me, it was never enough. I always tore him down and put him down. I drove him to it, and now I have nothing.”

Wives, this is a warning. If we make our husbands feel like they can’t do anything right, they will eventually stop trying.

So what is the cure for a crabby, complaining heart? It’s a thankful heart. Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. . . . And always be thankful.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Psalm 103:2-5 boosts us out of the dumps by replacing discouragement with praise. Will you use these words to lift your attitude from the valley to the hilltop of thankfulness?

     
Let all that I am praise the L
ORD
;

          
may I never forget the good things he does for me.

     
He forgives all my sins

          
and heals all my diseases.

     
He redeems me from death

          
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

     
He fills my life with good things.

          
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

One Year Bible Reading

Esther 1:1–3:15; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Psalm 35:17-28; Proverbs 21:19-20

August 19

Magnificent Obsession

     
Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love

          
will find life, righteousness, and honor.

What motives you? What gives you the motivation to get out of bed, get dressed, and start your day? Do you have a high and noble passion and purpose for living? If you were to die tomorrow or even next year, would you say, “I made the right choices”? Of all the things that we can desire and pursue in this life, there is nothing like the pursuit of God. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, paraphrase).

My dear, dear friend Mary Barrett was one of the most amazing worship leaders I have ever heard. Before she died of cancer, she had a bucket list. But it didn’t include skydiving. Just weeks before she passed, her husband Joe drove her to Nashville to record just one more worship CD to the glory of God. She often sang the words to the song below. To her, they were more than words, they were her swan song and anthem.

     
Give me one pure and holy passion.

     
Give me one magnificent obsession.

     
Give me one glorious ambition for my life,

     
to know and follow hard after you,

     
to grow as your disciple in your truth.

     
This world is empty, pale, and poor

     
compared to knowing you, my Lord.

     
Lead me on, and I will run after you.

As Paul the apostle said, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14,
NKJV
).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

How then can you personally and passionately pursue God? It can’t be done out of duty or mere religious zeal. Trying harder, in the form of legalism and sacrificial diligence, is not the answer either. “Give me one pure and holy passion”—these words are more than a song to sing; they are a prayer to pray. It is God alone who is the spark that ignites a life. Will you take these words and from your heart ask him to give you a hunger to “follow hard after him”?

One Year Bible Reading

Esther 4:1–7:10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-26; Psalm 36:1-12; Proverbs 21:21-22

August 20

Silence Is Golden

     
Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut,

          
and you will stay out of trouble.

     
Mockers are proud and haughty;

          
they act with boundless arrogance.

Our mouths! Have you ever been really sorry you said something? Of course you have. All of us have. If we really desire to be wise, godly women, we must get a grip on how we use our mouths. I read this comment on the Internet: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted and then used against you.”

James 1:19 tells us, “You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” This warns us to be careful. Do not speak first and think later. Think and pray first before you speak. Then you will never have to wish you could take back the words. Here are some test questions to ask before you speak.
Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is this the right time? Am I saying this to the right person, and will what I say bring good, or will it stir up trouble?

Sometimes it’s someone else who says something stupid or mean or rude to you. I want to tell you a little secret of life. You don’t have to finish what others start. Giving up doesn’t mean you are weak. Sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go. Just hold your tongue and count to ten, and the urge to say something stupid back will pass.

David faced many complicated and frustrating situations and people. He had a prayer he must have prayed a thousand times in his life: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O L
ORD
, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Let’s return to this profound statement: “Keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.” Why is this good advice? Because we often speak before we understand. We might give hasty advice. We sometimes take someone’s comment more personally than we should. Let’s learn to listen with more than just our ears. And most important, let’s get in the habit of asking the Holy Spirit to give us insight and wisdom and restraint.

One Year Bible Reading

Esther 8:1–10:3; 1 Corinthians 12:27–13:13; Psalm 37:1-11; Proverbs 21:23-24

August 21

Lazy, Lazy

     
Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin,

          
for their hands refuse to work.

What is the key element that distinguishes the lazy from the diligent? It is that the lazy “refuse to work.” It’s not that they can’t. It’s simply that they
won’t
labor. The definition of the Hebrew word for
labor
encompasses many areas of endeavor. It means “to advance, to deal with, to commit, to prepare, to practice, and to finish.”
Hmmm
. As I read this description, I see that when I procrastinate—which I do—I am for some reason refusing to get to something I know I should or to finish what I started.

So how do we break the habit of putting things off? Proverbs 6:6-8 says, “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.”

The ant is a picture of diligence. The word
diligence
means “putting care and effort into what one does.” Ants are focused, always moving forward. I love when you put something in their way—they hardly stop. They just go around it and keep moving forward. Good job, little ant!

In conclusion, the diligent life allows us to have food for our tables and hearts to share with others. Let’s close with an encouraging word from Psalm 37:25-26: “Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

There are lots of reasons we sometimes refuse to do something. Wives sometimes refuse to do something their husbands have asked them to do because they are angry. They won’t iron a shirt or run an errand or cook his favorite meal. We can have the same attitude at work or at church or with our families. This is just another form of laziness. We are too lazy to “get over it.” We let ourselves get in an emotional rut. My friend, let’s not be so petty and foolish and childish. Be like the ant: just go around it and keep moving forward.

One Year Bible Reading

Job 1:1–3:26; 1 Corinthians 14:1-17; Psalm 37:12-29; Proverbs 21:25-26